To investigate the origins and nature of intuitive obstacles affecting the learning of elementary probability theory, 618 Italian elementary and middle school students were interviewed about their methods of solution for several problems dealing with probability. The discussion focuses on four varieties of obstacles to learning prevalent within…

A "Motivation" eliciting the "Aim" of each lesson initiates each lesson in the orthodox "developmental lesson-plan" that has dominated classroom instruction in NYC public schools for at least the past half-century. An action-research study of 38 lesson-plans (over 5 each from 5 teachers) drawn from student-teaching…

This longitudinal investigation assessed the development and changes in preservice science teachers' conceptions of subject matter and pedagogy as they proceeded through their secondary science methods course, practicum, microteaching, and student teaching. Twelve preservice science teachers were asked, on four occasions each several weeks apart,…

This study investigated barriers to calculator use in elementary school classrooms. Teachers (n=348) and principals (n=30) in western New York State were surveyed in 1988 about their feelings and beliefs about calculator use. Analysis of the responses found that teachers and principals believed that calculators should be used in elementary…

Epistemological perspectives are the ways students interpret or make meaning of their educational experience. Research has stressed the need to develop strategies to counter traditional mathematics pedagogy and epistemology because they have alienated many girls and women. An integrated framework of two cognitive developmental models describe…

Critical and situated thinking in the respiratory care profession were examined through an exploratory factor analysis of the critical thinking behaviors of a sample of 868 respiratory therapists. The respiratory therapists completed a survey instrument containing 44-questions related to how well particular critical thinking behaviors are…

The vocational education and training (VET) profession in Australia is confronted with a radical reconstruction, not only in terms of the new work VET professionals are expected to perform but also in terms of the new culture and professional roles that have emerged out of the diversifying sites of professional practice. Reasons for the shift in…

Self-directed learning (SDL) is among the most productive areas of research in adult education. Malcolm S. Knowles is credited with a comprehensive synthesis of adult teaching and adult learning principles. Andragogy, the art and science of helping adults learn, lies at the heart of Knowles' work. Lucy M. Guglielmino theorized regarding the…

Knowledge production and learning in engineering is a local, situated, negotiated, and thoroughly social process. Although engineering work entails the construal, production, and application of artifacts and technical devices belonging to the "object world," the process of designing is a process of achieving consensus among real or…

One hundred and forty students in grades 6 and 7 were asked to process 32 science statements. Half of the statements were consistent with their prior knowledge, whereas the remaining facts were inconsistent with it. Half of the students were instructed to read the sentences for understanding (reading controls). The remaining students were…

Classroom boredom in the secondary mathematics classroom is a problem that can be addressed from knowledge of the intrinsic motivational variable of "interestingness." The lack of a theoretical model of interest is an obstacle in research that investigates this variable. This paper describes the three stages in the development of a model…

To be numerate is to be able to function mathematically in one's daily life. The kinds of mathematics skills and understandings necessary to function effectively in daily life are changing. Despite an awareness in Australia of new skills necessary for the information age and calls that the schools should be instrumental in preparing students with…

This book presents an ethnohistorical examination of American Indian thinking and philosophy and strives to explain the complexity of the American Indian mind in its traditional cultural and natural environment and in contrast to the American mainstream linear world. It is argued that Indian thinking is visual; circular; concerned with the…

Analyses of the cognitive activity displayed by students on existing innovative assessments in science were conducted. The project has worked with pilot alternative assessment programs in Connecticut and California to document the match or mismatch between the skills and processes that the assessment is designed to tap and those actually elicited.…

This paper discusses cognitive maps of the world that an individual needs to be considered educated. A cognitive map is the filing structure within the brain that allows an individual to encode, give meaning, and retrieve information relating to a variety of world matters. The first requisite is a cognitive map of the world of differences, whereby…